THE INNOCENT THIEF.

(PAGE 250.)

OT a flower can be found in the fields,

NOT

Or the spot that we till for our pleasure, From the largest to the least, but it yields The bee, never wearied, a treasure.

Scarce any she quits unexplored
With a diligence truly exact;

Yet, steal what she may for her hoard,
Leaves evidence none of the fact.

Her lucrative task she pursues,

And pilfers with so much address, That none of their odour they lose, Nor charm by their beauty the less.

Not thus inoffensively preys

The cankerworm in-dwelling foe!

His voracity not thus allays

The sparrow, the finch, or the crow.

X

306

THE INNOCENT THIEF.

The worm, more expensively fed,

The pride of the garden devours; And birds peck the seed from the bed, Still less to be spared than the flowers.

But she with such delicate skill

Her pillage so fits for her use,

That the chemist in vain with his still
Would labour the like to produce.

Then grudge not her temperate meals,
Nor a benefit blame as a theft;
Since, stole she not all that she steals,

Neither honey nor wax would be left.

તેના

SPARROWS SELF-DOMESTICATED

IN TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.

NONE

(PAGE 252.)

ONE ever shared the social feast,
Or as an inmate or a guest,

Beneath the celebrated dome
Where once Sir Isaac had his home,
Who saw not (and with some delight
Perhaps he view'd the novel sight)
How numerous, at the tables there,
The sparrows beg their daily fare.
For there, in every nook and cell
Where such a family may dwell,
Sure as the vernal season comes

Their nest they weave in hope of crumbs,
Which kindly given, may serve with food
Convenient their unfeather'd brood;

And oft as with its summons clear
The warning bell salutes their ear,
Sagacious listeners to the sound,
They flock from all the fields around,

308

SPARROWS SELF-DOMESTICATED.

To reach the hospitable hall,
None more attentive to the call.
Arrived, the pensionary band,
Hopping and chirping, close at hand,
Solicit what they soon receive,
The sprinkled, plenteous donative.
Thus is a multitude, though large,
Supported at a trivial charge:
A single doit would overpay
The expenditure of every day ;
And who can grudge so small a grace
To suppliants, natives of the place?

F

THE MAZE.

(PAGE 266.)

ROM right to left, and to and fro,
Caught in a labyrinth you go,

And turn, and turn, and turn again,
To solve the mystery, but in vain;
Stand still, and breathe, and take from me
A clue, that soon shall set you free!
Not Ariadne, if you meet her,

Herself could serve you with a better.
You enter'd easily-find where—
And make with ease your exit there!